Chapter 2: Portals of Hell
''The girl's soft laughter rang in the air when she heard him. ''Funny. Saying something like that aloud will get you killed; unless you want to die.''
Fear gripped Shane when he heard the girl's words. The events unfolding around him were beyond his comprehension. If this was a dream, he wished he would wake up right then and there.
''Can you tell me what those monsters are? Why are they so huge?'' He wondered, terrified.
''Those are nothing. They are the lowest of monsters. As you saw earlier, they are simple to kill. They lurk in frontiers like these and prey on lower-class humans who lack special abilities.''
Shane's eyes widened in terror. If huge ants and monster spiders were nothing more than a blip on the radar, then it meant that there were things worse than what he had just seen. Shane tried to breathe, but air could not fill his lungs, he was red with fear as he clung to the girl's side.
He wanted to ask more questions but for fear that she would ask him to stop following her, he kept mute and just tagged along, praying no beast would attack them again.
''I have never heard of any memory stealing demons, this is new.'' The girl said as Shane tagged along. From her words, it was clear that she did not even believe what he told her, she had assumed he lost his senses.
On second thought, Shane decided to go along with it, there was no way he was going to convince her or anyone here that he had come from another planet, which they did not even know, who would believe him?
Shane did not want to be a part of this. Whatever it was that sent him here, he prayed so earnestly that it would have a change of mind and return him to Earth. He did not belong here.
The sun was already going down, and Shane noticed she was walking a little more quickly now, as if the night carried more evil than he could ever imagine.
Nyx allowed Shane to come with her. She had sensed a friendly spirit in him. He was a weakling and totally harmless. She knew if she left him there, he would be killed when dusk came. She would have ordinarily ignored him, but he was a little too good-looking to be eaten alive by monsters. Maybe when they got to the Academy, the Court's physician would help him regain his senses.
''Why are these monsters here? Where do they come from? ''
Nyx thought quietly about how to answer the rather oblivious male by her side;
''They are demons from the pits of hell.''
''Hell?'' Shane exclaimed, to think he thought he had heard enough.
''Yes. You remember the portals right?'' She asked, to know how much of his memories had been erased.
Shane shook his head, ''No, what are they?''
''The seven portals of hell have been sealed since the beginning of time, by God, but in the last decade, the sons of the devil, the Servants, have begun opening the portals. There is a plan to send Hades to Rune to rule over it, but in order for this to happen, all seven portals must be opened and only one has been opened so far. But the terror one portal has brought to Rune, I do not want to imagine what would be our fate when the seven portals are opened. ''
''The Servants? How are the sons of the devil not in hell?''
''They are demi-gods. Born by humans but partly demons. Only a few upper descendants have succeeded in killing a Servant. It's almost impossible."
''I know I'm asking a lot, but who are these Descendants?'' Shane asked calmly, not wanting to offend the girl, she was already letting him come with her, asking too many questions might offend her and she might leave him there to be devoured alive, and while that might be the quickest way to get out of this strange world, he wasn't sure he would wake up on earth.
''Humans with special powers. Unfortunately, not all humans possess special powers, and these weak ones are the target of these monsters, it's our mission to protect them while training to combat greater demons and monsters that the Servants will eventually release from hell.''
''How about guarding the portals and preventing the Servants from opening them?'' Shane suggested;
''No one knows where the portals are, only the Servants can find them because of the kind of powers they possess but even then, finding them is difficult as they were sealed by God himself. The first portal was found in the desert of Souls. A desert surrounded by a burning lake.
Before we could summon descendants with enough powers to go across, the portal was already opened. And even if we reach there, only upper descendants can equal a Servant's power, and we do not know how powerful they are when faced with many Servants. So we're left with fighting these monsters as they are unleashed upon us."
Shane did not want to believe that he was indeed here. That he had passed out from being stabbed and woken up in another realm was something that only happened in the movies.
No, this must be a dream. He would wake up soon. He only had to close his eyes in sleep and he would wake up on Earth, probably in a hospital, with his mother by his side holding his hand. He'd tell her how much he missed her, he'd beg for her forgiveness, he would behave right, he'd go back to school, he would never touch drugs again...
Shane planned how he would turn over a new leaf if he was given another chance.
Please God, let this be a dream…
He prayed silently.
''We are here. '' Nyx said as they approached a gate guarding a city.
''Where is this place?'' Shane asked as the guards let them in through the gates.
''The Academy. A home for descendants.''
''What is yours? Your powers?'' Shane asked, curious as to what abilities she had. ''You'll know soon enough,'' she said with a smile.
The houses in the Academy resembled ancient civilizations on earth. There were no phones or internet, nor cars. Everywhere was quiet, a few people walked past them without saying anything or speaking to them.
''You did not tell me your name?'' Shane asked as they neared a compound, Nyx opened the gate, and walked in. The houses in the compound were lined up side by side with the taller house at the end which seemed like the master house. Nyx led them to one of the houses on the side and knocked on the door;
''My name is Nyx, a first-rank lower flame descendant. '' She said to Shane, the door flung open and they were interrupted by a female voice.
''Nyx! You're back, did you get it?'' A girl with ocean blue hair and blue eyes asked as she opened the door. She was pretty and her eyes glistered as she stared at Nyx, Shane wondered if every woman here was this beautiful.
"Who is this?'' The girl asked when she noticed Shane who was standing behind Nyx.
''Oh, this is Shane, he lost all of his memories, I think he was bitten by a memory-eating bee or something, I'm not sure, I'll take him to the Elder's manor tomorrow. ''
''Is he a descendant?'' She asked as she looked at Shane's wrist.
Every descendant had a sigil on their wrist with the amount of mana inscribed within, she looked at his wrist, but there was no sigil.
''He's not, just an ordinary human. How is he doing?''
Nyx asked as they entered the house, Shane's gaze landed on a boy lying on a bed in the room, his eyes were closed as he lay motionless on the bed.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone